Date:	Wednesday 22 May 1940
Time:	02:00 LT
Type:	Fairey Battle Mk I
Owner/operator:	226 Sqn RAF
Registration:	K9176
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Montcornet, near Dagny-Lambercy, 13 km SE of Vervins, Aisne -   France
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Faux-Villecerf, France
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Fairey Battle Mk.I K9176 (MQ-G) 226 Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) on night combat operations when crashed at Montcornet, Aisne, France. Of the three crew, one was killed, and two survived to be taken as PoWs. According to the official Air Ministry file into the accident (File AIR 81/757): "Battle K9176 crashed at Chagny, France, 23 May 1940. Aircraftman 2nd Class R J Jones and Sergeant R S Annan: prisoners of war. Sergeant A Livingstone: missing presumed dead"

Airborne from Faux-Villecerf on the night of 21-22 May 1940. Shot down at 02:00 hours and crashed at Montcornet, near Dagny-Lambercy, 13 km SE of Vervins, Aisne, France. As stated above, one crew member killed, the other two survived, bailed out, but were captured and taken as PoWs.

Crew of Battle K9176:
Sergeant R.S. Annan (RAF 740781, pilot); survived captured, taken as PoW. Interned in PoW Camps 8B/L1/L6/357 as PoW No.13101.
Sergeant Alexander Livingston, RAF 562187, age 29, posted 22/05/1940, as missing, presumed killed in action. As no trace of him was ever found, he is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial
AC.2 R.J. Jones (RAF 619074, Wireless Op./Air Gunner); survived, captured, taken as PoW. Interned in PoW Camps 8B/L1, as PoW No.13105

Note that some unofficial published sources give the date of the accident as the night of 20-21st May 1940, and the AIR 81/757 file gives the date of "23 May 1940". However, the CWGC (Commonwealth War Graves Commission) gives the date of death of Sgt Livingston (the sole fatality) as May 22 1940, which would seem to confirm that Battle K9176 crashed at 02:00 on May 22 1940.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft K1000-K9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1976 p 75)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/757: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502366
3. The Battle File (Sidney Shail, Air Britain, 1997 p 130)
4. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1078800/livingston,-alexander/
5. https://cockpitrevolution.ecwid.com/Fairey-Battle-K9176-p139416727
6. http://francecrashes39-45.net/page_fiche_av.php?id=3659
7. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/226_squadron.html#202105
8. http://www.oldhaltonians.co.uk/pages/links/rememb/ROH/17.htm ..

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
09-Sep-2019 00:12	Dr. John Smith	Added
09-Sep-2019 00:13	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
09-Sep-2019 00:15	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
17-Sep-2019 19:52	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]